Top mayoral aide steps down during zoning probes

The Globe reports that William "Buddy" Christopher, who until recently had been ISD commissioner, is taking a leave of absence from his new job overseeing Methadone Mile while the feds and a law firm hired by Mayor Walsh investigate just how development projects wend their way through the city approval process.

His decision to take a leave comes a week after John Lynch, a mid-level BPDA manager, agreed to plead guilty to federal bribery charges related to the way a developer won an extension from the Zoning Board of Appeal to build an 11-unit residential building on H Street in Boston - after which he then sold the project to another developer.

The Globe reports that Christopher was the original architect for the building, but that he passed the work onto his son, James, also an architect, when Mayor Walsh hired his former Savin Hill neighbor as ISD commissioner in 2014. Among its functions, ISD reviews development proposals to determine whether they comply with city zoning codes; projects that receive ISD denials then go to the ZBA.

Earlier, Christopher had worked at the city Department of Neighborhood Development - where both Lynch and developer Steven Turner also worked.

In June, Walsh gave Christopher a new position as "special advisor" in charge of figuring out what to do about the area around the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue, where growing numbers of people addicted to opioids gather. Christopher has no background in public health or drug addiction.

Last month, Christopher presided over a contentious public meeting in the South End days after police had conducted a couple of sweeps through the area after a guard at the Suffolk County jail was attacked as he drove to work on Atkinson Street.

Comments

The "Department of Neighborhood Development" was split up around 15 years ago. The part that Christopher used to work for (which does renovation projects on city-owned buildings) is now "Public Facilities". Can't say whether that's relevant or not.

Why does more voter turnout automatically equal better politicians? Maybe they would just vote for the same people anyway. And, if they don't care enough to show up, maybe they would just vote for the goofiest candidate, funniest name, or first person that in their preferred political party, even if they don't know who they are or what they stand for?

It's probably not illegal --if the real price is what they say, $650,000-- but very unwise for Marty to get involved in a house sale to a subordinate in a hot market, then go off to Cedar Grove and buy a mansion. Home sales between family or friends are a great way to hide money. The feds must be poring over the bank records, not just Marty's and Buddy's, but any developers to see if they "helped out." It's very odd that a department head with citywide authority and building expertise would accept a demotion to clean up drugs on a street corner (Methadone Mile). Did Marty know of the federal investigation in June and decide that Christopher couldn't stay in ISD?

By protecting his two buffoons, now convicted felons, involved in the shakedown of Boston Calling, Marty sent a message to all city employees that "I have your backs" even if a Grand Jury decides there is enough evidence to issue indictments. He kept them on the payroll and kept praising them even after a second jury convicted them. As for Lynch, nobody walks into the US Attorney's office on a Friday of a long holiday weekend and says "I'd like to plead guilty to several felonies with significant jail time." That deal was in the works for months if not years. As the "bagman," did Lynch wear a wire for the feds during the time between when he was caught and when he was publicly charged? Where did Lynch go with the money after he got the $50,000 in this case? Any truth that Marty offered not to run again if the feds agree to not "climb the ladder" as is their protocol? Stay tuned.

Undermines valid points you may be making. His house is a single family home. Beautiful house but hardly a mansion when passers by could peer in your windows with little effort and not an especially large lot.

Didn’t some people just get immunity agreements from the government to testify in the Boston Calling case? Were the conditions of that agreement that they had to wear a wiretap and get information on others?

Why do we need a Zoning Board of Appeals? We have a zoning code. When you want to build something, you build it to the specs of the zoning code. If you don’t want to do that, you can’t build it. If people, mostly big business developers, continually need and are granted variances to the zoning code, why have a zoning code at all? They seek these variances to make more of a profit for themselves, the neighbors be damned. This is the equivalent to a bookie going before the Court of Appeals and asking for a variance to the gambling laws because to adhere to them is fiscally constricting for him. Just come up with a zoning code that keeps the interests of the residents at heart and eliminate the ZBA and make these developers abide by the code.